Laundry ironer



' F. J. KAHN LAUNDRY IRONER Fi1ed' Nov. 15'. 1929 'Sept. 22, 1931.

4 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR. A TToR l Y Sept. 22, 1931. F. J. KAHN 1,324,435

' LAUNDRY IRONER Filed No 15. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 & INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY F. J. KAHN LAUNDRY IRONER Sept. 22, 1931.

4 Sheets-Shet 3 Filed Nov. 15, 1929 IN V EN TOR.

F. J. KAHN LAUNDRY IRONER Sept. 22, 1931.

Filed Nov. 15. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

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Patented Sept. 22,,1931

umeng'smm rnANx 'J. KAHN, or new YbRK, N .-Y.-'

i f LAUN RY 'IR NER: 7 Application filed November 1 5, i929. (see; ma. 407,434

This invention relates to laundry ironers and more particularly with regard to its more.

specific features to presses in which the work is'carried forward beneath rolls andis then returned beneath the steam chest by travel ling'belts.

It is an object of this inventionto provide a device of the character described which may be easily released after ironing, to pre= ="vent scorchingv of the 'rollsor apron, butwhich may be quickly and easily adjusted to ironing conditions with a proper pressure'andtension on the rolls and aprons. v

Itis a further object to produce a device in which the roll pressure and apronmay be adjusted, each independent each automatically;

In devices of this character, there is proof the other, and

vided asteam chest which is so hot that it is not desirable to leave the apron and rolls in contact with it lest the apron and the covering' on the'rolls be scorched. It is desirable therefore to raise the rolls and slacken the apron away from the chest whenever the maehine is brought to rest. r 7

While, therefore, the apron and roll are moved, at the beginning and again at the endof the ironing period, it is notsatisfactory to attempt to operate them by'a' single control mechanism because with diflerent'conditions of heat, moisture and use, the apron, changes 1 Figure 3.

in length without corresponding changes in the position of the rolls, and for different conditions of use it is desirable to vary. the 1 1 pressure of the rolls without altering the apron tension.

It is a'further object of this invention,

therefore, to provide a machine of thecha'rQv acter described, in which each of these ele-v; ments may be independently adjusteduto-i ts properpoint, without havingan effect upon the other, but in which both adjustments may. be made simultaneously with a mmlmum of effort. I

- It is a further object to p rodu device of the character described in 'whichthe apron tension and roll pressure may be each independently applied or relieved by power, but

in accordance with which the degree of tension,pressure or release 1s controlledautothe levcrzcentering device? f F igure 7 is a fragmentary new on the hue lowered toraise'or lower the rolls together.

matically.- 'This'is specifically accomplished in the present embodiment by disconnecting the power mechanism from the control device when thedesired degree of tension or pressureorrelease is obtained.

It is afurther'object to produce a device of the characterdescribed which will be simple in construction and rugged and reliable in operation.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and'will inpart appear herein- 7 after.

The invention accordingly comprisesthe features of construction,combinations of ele-' ments, and arrangement of parts, which will 7 be exemplified'inthe construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the'application ofwhich will'be indicated inthe claims.

For a fuller understanding of'the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description" taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwliich:

Figure lis a fragmentary side elevation or ofapress'embodying thisinvention'.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of a portion of theoperating megh i I Figure'3 isa sectional plan along the lines 3-3 of Figure 1, parts being shown slightly" so Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of out of .position .for greater clarity.

Fi ure 5 is a fra mentary side elevation showing the control levers.

Figure 61s a fragmentary view showing 7-7 7 of Figure 6, showing the lever control dete'nts-and their operating mechanism.

Figure'Sis asection on the'line 8-8 of '90 Figure 7. l

' n the drawings the numeral 1 designates a steam chest preferably having concavities 2 in which fit the ironing rolls 3. These 'latter may comprise steel or iron rolls having a fabric covering supported from the roll surface by springs or other padding;

The rolls 8 are journalled in blocks 4' car Tied y a frame 5 which may be raised and?" anism. Uponthe shaft 18isa worm wheel 21 meshing with a worm 22 on a short shaft driven-by, the gears 28, 2.9 from: a shaftv 30.

such as 12 and 13. Certainof theaguide rolls are omitted for the sake of clarity. The

rolls 8 and 12 are carried by a bracket:1Z4' pivJ-- oted at 15. The position of the brackets, is

determined by a roll l6 up'on a bracket coopand: cambeing provided at eachqside of the machine,

The-camsarekeyed-to the opposite ends of a transverse sl1aft18;-which may conven: iently be j ournalledi in ahollow: shaft 19 which may in turnbej ournalled: transversely: in the main frame. 20 ofthe machine.

The shaft 18 may be driven fromthepower mechanismby'the following train: of mech- 23; This short shaft is driven by. gears 24),

25. and 26; from: as shaft-27v which extends to the other end of the/ machine and is in turn This shaft-3.0 has at one end a bevel gear 31 and; at; the; other end, a hand'wheel 32,

making. it possible: to. operate the cam, 17

either by hand, by means'ofthe handwheel, or by power through the bevel. gear;

Upon thecside ofthemachine'carrying the shaft 27 there is transversely jpurnalled a short,,hollow shaft 33 driven from; the. power shaft 34 of theanachine-by a chain 35- and 'sprocketsBfi and 37. An operating rod? 38 extends into the hollow of, theshaf-t and is splined toit to? rotate with: it by. a; spline 39 extending outwardly through slots in" the hollow shaft.

' Apairofbevelgears and. 41 are journalled on the hollow shaft 33 in position to mesh; upon the opposite sides of the bevel gear 31. Each ofthebevel gears 40'and141 is slotted on the end: of. its hub adjacent. to

the'spline 39, but these hubs are so spaced,

as to-provide a neutralposition betweenthem forthelspline.

The rod-38 carries at itsouter. endaspool 42 engaged by; a yoke 43 inturn controlled by a rod 44 operated by a lever 45 pivoted to the main frame 20, at46. By. thisconstruction the movement, of the-lever 45 to one side will; cause the spline 39. to engage one of-the bevel gears:40'or 41 to drivethe caml'?v from.

the shaft 34 but it willzeither raise the bracket 14 to tighten the apron or lower it to slacken the apron dependent on the direction of movementzof the lever 45'.

5 q Theroll frame 5 is raised? and lowered by V nismrwill now be described.

two pairs of operating rods, these rods being disposed at the opposite sides of the two ends of the frame. Two of these rods 47 at one end of the machine are each controlled by an eccentric 48 upon a shaft 49 journalled to .the frame 20. The other two rods 50 are each controlled by an eccentric, 51 upon the hollow shaft'19. The shafts 19 and 49Eeach carry a worm wheel 53 meshing a worm 54 upon a longitudinal shaft 55.

; mechanism;foridriving the shaft 55 from the power shaft 34 is provided, similar to thatfor driving the shaft 27. The description heretofore givenneed not, therefore, be repeated. The parts have been given corresponding characters; in the draavingsgsufi fixed by the letter a.. It will, Ofi c,ourse-,.be1 understood that the stub shaft; 33' may 00H!- veniently be. placed. on the opposite side of the machine from the'shaft 33m. 7

The rollers 8 and 12 are journalled upon blocks 6061- which; are slidable' uponajthe frame 14 under control ofscrews 6263,so that when a: new belt is installedvitmay be initially tensioned to correspond with. its

companion.

Adjacent to; the levers 45 and'45a are.- gages 164 and 165 which indicate the-tension; on the aprons and the pressure; on the rolls respectively. These may be; operated in any convenient and well known manner but. as the operating mechanism forms; no; part of, this invention it is'not here; illustrated.

With the above construction itwill be clear that upon starting the machine the;

levers 45 a-nidi45a may be moved, tot-bring; the.

rolls-to pressure and the apron-.totension as shown by the gages, and as each of theseis. independent of theother there isno need for misadjustment of one tozbraing theother to proper value, such as results from( attempting to operate both from acommoncontrola WVith the above construction themachine may be-operate'd under theacontrol of the at? v tendant' to bring the: apron tension and roll pressuretoany desired value but; it is prefiera-131161130 provide" a; mechanism. controlled by the tension and pressure respectively for separate operating means so that when the levers 45 and 45dare originally moved no further act on the part of the attendantis requiredtobring the tension and pressure to the, propervalues, This automatic mecha- It willvbe understood that the position. of the bracket 14; is. at all-times. fixedl by the angular position of the shaft 18v and the position of the head 55isatall times determined by the position of the shafts 19 and 49. The automatic mechanism, therefor-e, comprises means controlled. by the: position. of these shafts to disconnect the operating: mechamsm.v

Referring now to the controlEl'evers45 and 45a these' each comprisea stub lever 60 or 60a pivoted at 46 to which levers 45 and 45a are articulated as at 61 and 61a. Each of the stub levers and 60a has an extension- 62-62a. A compression spring 63a extends between the extension 6% and the lever 45a and a tension spring 63 connects the lever 45 with the extension 62. In this manner it will be clear that the levers are forced outwardly away from each other as seen in Figure 5. Each of these levers moves in a slot 64-64a in a plate 65 attached to the main frame and is adapted normally to be retained in central position by a pair of arms 66 and 67 pivoted at 68 to the main frame and having toes 69 and 70 respectively which bear against the flanges of the spool 42a or 425. Between the arms 66 and 67 is a block 71 against which the arms 66 and 67 rest at their innermost position while compression springs 72 and 7 3 carried upon the rod 74 bear against the outer faces of the arms 66 and 67 to urge them toward the faces of the block 71. With this construction it will be evident that a movement of the spool 42a or 42bto either side will move one of the arms 66 or 67 against the force of its compression spring so that the spool isurged back to its neutral position thereby carrying with it the corresponding lever.

Referring now to Figure'8 it will be seen that there are provided adjacent to the ptlate 65 detents 75, 76, 75a and 76a each of w ich is slidable in suitable guides and is de-' ressed inwardly by springs 77, 78, 77a 0r (8a. Each of these detents is provided with an inclined face 79 or 80, 79a or 80a so that as either lever is pressed to the side it will force the corresponding detent out of its path until the lever passes beyond the detent whereupon the detent will be forced into the path of the lever to retain the latter in position. Extending through slots 82 in the detents 75 and 76 is a shaft 83 journalled in arms 84 attached to the main frame, A similar shaft 83a extends through the detents 7 5ar76a. a roller 85 bearing upon a cam 86 fixed upon the shaft 83. Upon the outer end of the shaft 83a there is provided a finger 87 a in position to be engaged by a cam 88a upon the shaft 49. This cam 88a isadjustably fixed to a shaft 49 by means of a set screw 89.

These cams 86 are provided. with projections 90 which, as the shaft 83 is rotated cause the detents 7576 to be withdrawn from the path of the levers 45-45a so that ,trolled by the shaft 83 save that in this inand leave them.

Each of the detents carries 1 stance; the corresponding arm 87 is controlled: by (a fork 92 mounted on a rod 93 reciprocated byla lever 94: the end of which 95 is engaged :by the cam 88 on the shaft 18 in 'the'same manner-that the finger 87a is controlled by thecam 88a.

The slots 64and 64a preferably each have acentral notc'h c96i 96a i to retain. the

incentralpositionm a v i -By the -.above-construotion it will beseen that the roll pressure and apron tension m a-y beeasily: adjustedbyzgrasping' the :levers levers 4=545a,with one hand andpressing them toward eaclrother to release them from the centralno-tches 96 9600. They may then be moved together to one side until they snap behind the appropriate detent. Thereupontension causes the withdrawal of the detents 75'and76 and the lever 45 also to snap back to neutral, :Thus the only operation required ofthe attendant is to movethe control levers The tension and pressure are thereupon controlled automatically.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative andnot in a limiting sense;

It :isalso to be :understood'that the fol-' lowing claims are intended to cover all-of the gen'eraland specific features of the invention herein described, and allstatements of" the scope ofthe invention which, as a mat I having a plurality of rolls and an apron cooperating with a steam chest, in combina tion, means for raislng and lowerlng the rolls and means for altering the apron tension, said two sets of means being lndependent of each 7 other and having separate control means, said control means being situated adjacent to each other and movable in the same direction to lower the rolls and tension the apron. i

2. In a device of the character described having a plurality of rolls and an apron cooperating with a steam chest, in combination, a power shaft, means for raising the rolls including a shaft journalled longitudinally of the machine, a reversing mechanism and a lever for connecting said longitudinal shaft to said power shaft through said reversing mechanism, and: means for slackening-t the apron independentgofsaid ro'll'rai'sing mecha. ni'sm, including a transverse: shaft, a reverseing mechanism. and a lever: for connecting Qsaid: transverse: shaft to" said. power shaft: through said last n'amedi reversing mechas nisms 3-. In a: device 015 the cha'racter described having a plurality of rolls and; 31113131011100 o operating With, a; steam chest, in combinaso e pair of shafts journalled longitudinal ly ofzthe machine5means for. raising therolls operatively connected. to one of said; shafts, means for; slackening the apron operatively' 1&- connected to; the other of said shafts, a source ofapower-and' means for reversibly and: independently connecting each o frsaidi shafts to the:source of power. v 4; Inr a device of the character; described: zqiha vingzaplurality-oi rolls and an; apron. co-v operating-:Witha steamchest, in combination, a pair of shafts j ourn'alledi longitudinally of the; machine, means for raising: thev rolls. operatively connect-ed'to, one of; said shafts, 25. means for slackening" the apron operatively:

COHIlflGt/idltO' the other ofisaid shafts,.as source ofi power; 21% reversing; mechanism'for each.- of said; shaftsl andzindependent. means. forconnecting; said source of power to. each of: 30: said reversing mechanisms 5;. In; a device of. the character. described having a: plurality of rolls and an.- apron; cooperating; with a. steam: chest, in; combination, a. r0111 raising mechanism including a 3k fran1e, rods for supporting: said frame, ec-

centrics for controlling: the position of saidv arms, a shaft carryingz-a: pair offsaideccentrics,.means for slackeni'ngthe apron including; bracketsrabout. which the aprons are 40,. trained eams controllin the position-rof'said. I brackets, a-shaztt carrying; said: cams; one of, said: shafts being hollow and the other he-. ing journalledin said, hollow shaft; FRANK J. KAHN, 

